Karácsony: MSZP-Dialogue would re-allocate EU funds

If they win the general election, the Hungarian Socialist Party-Dialogue (MSZP-Párbeszéd) alliance would cease the current EU grant payments so that they can be spent on more important issues such as pulling round public healthcare and education, and the recreation of Hungary’s social safety net, MSZP-Dialogue prime ministerial candidate Gergely Karácsony said at a Monday press conference, reports state news agency MTI.

According to Karácsony, the government decided to disburse EU grants at the fastest rate possible in order to “fill the pockets of its cronies” fearing a defeat in the April 8 general election. Karácsony argued that the responsible spending of an average of HUF 900,000 (USD 3,500) per each Hungarian citizen would surely require more time.

Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest’s 14th district, stated that fortunately HUF 9 trillion (USD 35.5 billion) has still not been disbursed by the government, therefore voters could still authorize MSZP-Dialogue in the April vote to spend this amount on better things than supporting the Prime Minister’s son-in-law or Fidesz cronies.

Karácsony also proposed the establishment of an anti-corruption special prosecutor service that would be tasked with recovering EU subsidiaries that augmented private wealth.

During the same press event, MSZP MP Tamás Harongozó proposed that in government his party would introduce a 75 percent special tax on companies that market residency bonds. MSZP would also tax the profit of those companies that received more than HUF 100 million (USD 395,000) EU and state subsidiaries in the previous financial year, Harangozó said.

At the end of the press conference, Karácsony reassured that MSZP-Dialogue is still ready to negotiate with any of the opposition parties. He expressed his hope that Politics Can Be Different (LMP) would be willing to cooperate even if Jobbik is not included in a potential cooperation. “If LMP doesn’t come, then their voters will,” Karácsony said.